Long Years Ago

we said that the time has come "to redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially".

Not sure how much we have redeemed it in the last 62 years. As for myself, I must say I have fallen short on various ends - NeverForget needs a lot more to be done, but at least Sanjha Choolha is in good shape (thanks to D, mostly), so something is happening on the desh-seva end.

Anyways, time to get back to work. Will keep you all posted about the eye, about which so many of you inquired (thanks for that).

Jai Hind!
-A
P.S. Something to remember those days:

Eye See You

This is what my right eye looks like right now (after dilation of pupil, so that the doc can see inside). After looking inside, the doc said that my condition is worse than before, and eye surgery is strongly recommended.

Will meet the surgeon next week.

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Where Joan of Arc was Burnt

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Something Funny is Coming to Indian Internet

I have talked earlier about the fact that it is time for India to have its own "Daily Show", and it seems that Abhigyan (of the Movers and Shakers fame) and Varun (my good friend from ITBHU, of the daily tamasha fame) were listening :-).

So here it is, Jay Hind (facebook page). They start (online only) on August 15th. Their first guest: Savita Bhabhi!



I hope this fills the void in good satirical Indian TV.

The Protection Thread

or Raksha Bandhan is an ancient Indian tradition, and I am missing my sisters today :-|.

On the bright side, I got one rakhi in post yesterday, and many e-cards and e-mails today, so life is not so bad :-).

To my sisters, I give this:



miss you all.
-A (bhaiya)

I Have a (Google) Voice

830-448-DESI (or 830-448-3374)

that is the number you can call (or send SMS) to reach me in the USA.

Sorry, I won't be able to receive your calls myself, but you can leave me a voicemail, and I will be sure to listen in (and respond).

All this is thanks to Google Voice, using which I can check my voicemails online at its website. It also transcribes the calls for me :-).

(sadly, I cannot make it auto-forward calls to my France number, hence the voicemail trick)

And this is how a voicemail looks like on my dashboard [from Gaurav, my ex-roomie, who gave me my gmail ID :-)]


That's it for now. ciao!

P.S. Sorry, It is not possible to send friends "invites" like gmail, this service is only available if you go on their website and sign up for an (upcoming) invite.
P.P.S. Interestingly enough, I cannot set up my account if I am using a non-USA IP address, but can access it. How cool! :-)
P.P.P.S: Just discovered I can send SMSs to US numbers for free. From the web interface. Yay!

On Yesterday's Post, and the War-with-Pakistan Option

My post yesterday asking as to why the Indian govt. insists on keeping the military option off the table in its discussions with Pakistan caused quite a heated discussion, both here and (mostly) on facebook. In spite of various disclaimers in the post, some of my friends felt that I was advocating a war with Pakistan, and had no regard for the innocent lives lost in the horror that is war.

So, to (hopefully) make it clear once and for all, here are some points:

1. I did NOT advocate war with Pakistan in my post, which I know will solve nothing. I did NOT even ask for it to be our primary talking point, which I know will only help the extremists on either side. My question was simply as to why that option is so categorically off the table. Not second option, not 100th option, but just _off the table_.



2. To those who were anguished by my post, I apologize for not properly qualifying the question. It should have read "From a logistical/strategic point of view, why is war with Pakistan off the table?"
   
   Note that I have no misgivings about our Govt. being all innocent and peaceful. For FSM's sake, we still have the death penalty for the "rarest of the rare" cases! Given that I do not expect them to really keep the war option off the table for "humanitarian" reasons, I was wondering they are still not mentioning it. It was a question of (dry) strategy, nothing more.



3. The above (logistical) question was best answered by Anupama, who convinced me that we cannot (militarily) risk a war with Pakistan due to the vastly superior capabilities of China. (detailed answer here). I now understand that keeping war off the table is not the "wimpy" option, but a strategic reality. And given that is true, the article by SG pointed out by Varun makes sense (although I share Varun's reservations about the competence of our govt.).



4. I have NOTHING against the people of Pakistan, and in fact I have, on multiple occasions, advocated for a solution through peaceful approaches. If you do not believe me, have a look at my posts that mention Pakistan, especially this one, where I addressed my PoV of what India can do in light of the "failing country" narrative.
   
   No. Seriously. Go read that post before you make accusations about my having a hardline and violence-advocating approach towards the Pakistani people.
   
   And for those who dislike clicking links, here are some snippets from the above-mentioned blog post:

   When I think loudly about this issue, the following comes to mind.:
   
   Problem context/assumptions:
   
   2. The people of pakistan do not actively want to mess with India. They, like people everywhere, want to lead their lives and raise their kids.
   
   ...
   
   Assumption 2 above rules out options like nuking/war, not to mention the fact that they also have nukes :-).
   
   So the _way to go_ to address the situation there, in my opinion, is
   1. Figure out what action hurts their _government/army_. They don’t care if you send back their singers, hell it plays directly into their hands of “Indians are hegemonical, and we should hate them”. Until we hurt their establishment, there is no solving this problem. [focussed trade boycott anyone?]
   
   2. The only way out, in addition to finding the magic bullet in point 1 above, is to _encourage_ the moderates there. Lets face it, a pakistan which is ruled by the Taliban is not in India’s interest. But it is also _not_ in the interest of the moderates there. [I have pakistani friends, and have heard a lot about how they feel threatened by the taliban/moral-police as much as you feel threatened by the Senes]. The only long term way out for us is to help the moderates in Pakistan get a voice. If it means letting some of them even show up on our TV Channels to make their case, so be it.
   
   / these are initial thoughts, but I hope you see where I am going.
   // am not saying that allow any T,D&H from pakistan on Indian TV. But for a change, lets stop focussing on the crazies there who call us “hindu zionists”, and focus on the more moderate voices there. I know it makes for better TRP to give airtime to the former, but the latter are the ones whom _we_ should give visibility to.
   /// There are those who would say ‘just secure our borders, close all communications, and wait for it to implode’. I for one would _not_ want a Nuclear armed neighbor to implode, and last time I checked, we were nowhere near securing our borders completely.
   //// Reiterating: Lets _not_ break cultural ties. If anything, let their artists perform here. If they have a good welcome, they will go back and share their experiences, which will only work to dispel the lies that their govt. has told their people.

Anyways, this is what I had to say. If you still think that I am some extreme-right warmonger with no regard for human life, suit yourself.

-A

Why is War with Pakistan off the Table?

[Update: I finally was able to find an answer to the question. Answer in the last comment.]

[Update 2: If you are reading this article, you MUST also read the follow up post to get a more complete picture.]

+++

[ Those who know me well know how much of a non-war person I am, but here is some loud thinking on my part. Let me know what you think. ]

I was reading ShashiTharoor's tweets and other reports on the 10 year anniversary of the Kargil war, where we were left surprised by the large-scale incursion of the Pakistani forces mingled with "freedom fighters" in Kashmir. And then reports of how the deaths on the LoC continue due to firing from the other side.

M.J.Akbar has written another masterpiece today in the ToI, which, among other things, makes the following note (emph mine):

In 1965 Lal Bahadur Shastri thought a little give would purchase a lot of take at Tashkent. In 1972, Indira Gandhi bought Bhutto's plea that what remained of Pakistan would crumble without her sympathy. She did not insist on a written agreement ending the Kashmir dispute along the Line of Control. Atal Bihari Vajpayee reached out to shake Pakistan's hand at Lahore, and got slapped in the face at Kargil.

And asks this wonderful rhetorical question:

In the political calculus, Gilani does not have to do much more to survive. After all, what can India do if he does nothing? Start a war?

And I wonder to that, Why not?

I mean, during Kargil, the reason we didn't go into a full-fledged war was because we thought they could use the nukes. If we, in contrast, attack the terror camps in PoK, wouldn't Pakistan also be forced to fight a non-nuclear war, fearing that if they use their nukes, we will use ours too?

Note that I am NOT asking for war. However, I have begun to strongly feel that keeping the strike option (pre-emptive or not) completely off the table does us no good, and allows the govt. there to be in the state of "we oh-so-want to fix your terrorism problem too, not just ours" while doing absolutely nothing about it.

What do we stand to lose if we state to Pakistan in clear terms that "next time there is a terror attack (or if there is a delay in delivering those responsible for the 26/11 attacks), we won't ask you before bombing the regions where we believe the camps are located. Bring out your nukes. We got bigger ones."?

Any answers?

[P.S. Credit is due to P, who asked me a version of this question a while back]

Phished! Beware of your ATM

[Update: A slideshow with pictures on how this could have been done is added to the bottom of this post now.]

[for those of you who are impatient, you can jump to the what should I do section]

The Incident

Last Friday evening, I was visiting the town of Antony, to see an apartment which I will be moving in come September, and M and I were passing close to a branch of my bank, Credit Agricole. So I thought "might as well withdraw some cash". So I went up the ATM attached to the bank wall, and put in my card.

Nothing happened.

The machine didn't even ask me for my PIN. It just ate my card.

So I pressed "cancel" a couple of times. Still nothing. Then I noticed a small notice with the bank's logo on it saying "sorry, this ATM is broken. The screen also won't show that. If your card is in there, please type your pin and press OK. Then type it twice and press cancel to get your card back. If it still does not work, come back tomorrow morning with your ID and check at the bank."

So I did that, and sadly, no dice. I guessed it was because I had pressed other keys. Ah well.

The next afternoon, I went to the bank, and asked for my ATM card. To my shock, the lady at the bank said that they cannot find my card! They asked me to call the bank's lost ATM line, and get a confirmation number, which I should then give to my _own_ branch (close to work) when it is open.

So (with M's help) I was able to lodge a complaint, and got a confirmation number.


The Surprize!

Today afternoon, I finally went to my bank (it is closed on Monday), and while the nice lady there was talking to me about opening an FD/savings account, I noticed that my bank balance had come down by around 1.5K Euros in the past 2 days!!

Turns out there was a contraption attached to the ATM machine that not only stole my card, but also my PIN number. The thieves had pulled out EUR 250 that same evening from the ATM (hitting the daily limit), and bought a bunch of stuff the next day. The total damage: EUR 1,278.

Following this revelation, I went to the police station with a copy of the bank records, gave my statement, came back to the bank and filed a claim for the missing money. I am told that I should get a new card in 10 days, and hopefully my money will be back in 15.

It is worth noting that the bank staff and the police people were very very helpful and comforting, especially given that my French is not that good :).

What YOU should do

Of course, this post will be useless without a set of action-items. So here they are:

1. Do NOT use random, unknown ATMs. Prefer to use only the ones that are your bank's, or some other well-known bank's.


2. Do NOT use ATMs attached to the wall and open to the road, even if they are outside your own bank (as I did). Always use the ones inside the bank. At least here in France, such ATMs are open 24x7, and since they have a ton of cameras pointing at them, hopefully the scamsters will avoid them.


3. If your ATM eats your card, and the screen does not change, DO NOT MOVE. Call the cops, and tell them this happened. If the machine is broken, it will say so. If the monitor is faulty, the bank will NOT put a sticker below the machine, they will block the slot itself. Contrary to what I thought that evening, the banks are NOT that stupid.


4. Re-read step 3. If this happens to you, CALL THE COPS.

Ah well, this is it. Feel free to forward this post as email to your friends (there should be an icon below this post). This, for one, is a true story. It happened to me!

More references:
1. http://www.snopes.com/fraud/atm/atmcamera.asp [China and USA]
2. http://www.theage.com.au/national/five-charged-over-500000-atm-scam-20090325-9aio.html [Australia]

Update: A sent me a presentation on how the machine could have eaten my card. Still not sure how they got my PIN.

Riding the Wave

So I got access to the Google Wave Sandbox, about which I had talked about earlier here.

The system is fast, and buggy -- the first time Google has really released something in beta. They are calling it a "developer preview".

The interesting part was that everyone is auto-subscribed to the main discussion group, and chaos rules there as of now. But then that is also due to the fact that none of my friends are on wave yet. Think of this like the early days of twitter or facebook, except that there is an approval process for signing up, and there are no "invites" like gmail had.

In any case, if you get an account, send me a wave at animesh@wavesandbox.com (yeah, got my firstname, just like on gmail ;-) )

ciao!
-A

Internet Explorer's latest promo in France

... is on a take-out pizza (speed rabbit) menu!

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

To Indian Indie Music

My good friend, the immensely talented Amitanshu has embarked on the journey towards his true calling - music. Check out his first upload in the video below



More at the youtube channel of their musical team, antarnaad. Go check it out, and subscribe.

Berthillon ice cream. Yum :-)

Picture taken right before I ate this double scoop (cocktail exotique and cassis) in a special dual-cone :-). The store website is here, and it is supposed to have the best ice-cream in Paris :-).

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Our lady, in the Parisian sun

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Eiffel Tower Fireworks

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Indian military bands in Paris

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Choppers!

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Do you see the tanks?

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Jeeps with guns

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

One of many plane groups

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

Singh is here

In case you didn't know, dr. Singh is the chief guest of the French independence day parade. Am posting this from the venue. More to come later. Watch this space.

-A
www.animeshpathak.in
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

The Right to Cover-Up

There has been a lot of discussion on the proposed ban on the burqa -- the head-to-toe covering islamic garment for women -- by the French govt.

My only close encounter with a burqa was when as a child, I noticed that a friend's grandmother used to wear her burqa whenever she stepped out of the house. Inside the house, even with us present, she just wore a sari. I would have considered her old-fashioned, but it was her choice of what she wanted to wear when venturing out.

My personal beliefs are perhaps best expressed in this great Daily Show clip.



To summarize (and to paraphrase JS), the burqa should not be banned, much like it should not be compulsory.

Seriously, if I were a man who forces my wife to wear a burqa when she steps out, what do you think I will do when it is illegal? I will simply forbid her from ever stepping out! And if a girl really wants to wear a burqa, the state should not have the right to stop her, much like wearing goth makeup (or covering one's ankles) is not illegal.

What the state DOES need to do is to reach out to womenfolk and provide circumstances so that they are more comfortable in stepping out and reporting it if their men are forcing them to wear burqas, or miniskirts for that matter.

But you see, the above is a very complex action to perform, and will not get much press. So I guess we will only see knee-jerk and sensationalist all-or-nothing solutions from the govt.

What do you think?

Bridging Distance with Music

They say music and technology can bridge barriers. But for those for whom seeing is believing, I present this "Hotel California" video, which I came across today while looking for music to play in the background while I worked. It was composed by two guys who are thousands of miles apart, using the internet to collaborate. Hear it below (choose HQ), or for a higher-quality audio-only version, check out the playlist at this page.



Do you know of any other such amazing videos, especially featuring Indian amateur artists? Please post links in the comments if so.

Hello Mona darling :-)

Learning how to grow Diamonds

Nova Science NOW is in its 4th season, and makes for some amazing viewing.

This week: Growing perfect Diamonds, and much more

Here is the video, ref: Ninjavideo.



The host, Dr. Tyson, is also a very good sport. His latest interview with the coal-bear is here



And yes, happy 4th of July to my red-white-and-blue friends :)

Helping us Never Forget

Update: This video was removed from YouTube due to a copyright claim by Channel 4. Viewable trailer posted. Also, an alt youtube link is posted in the comments.

The official link is at
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-30/episode-1

and a short sample is at




*** Old Post ***

Thanks to D for the link to the playlist below, which is a documentary on the Mumbai terror attacks of last year.



'nuf said. Watch it.

Good News!

Dear all,

Today, I was informed that I have been selected for the position of "Chargés de Recherche 2e" (junior researcher) at INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt.

Thanks to all of you for your support ... more details coming in the coming days.

à plus!

-A

Time for Desi Pride

Today there are Gay Pride parades all over, and this is my tribute.

For some context, here is an excellent piece from the New York Times.
40 Years later, still second class Americans.


For those of you who like video, here is Colbert on the topic:



And finally, here is a heartwarming love story from India of two women in love with each other who were finally able to find a place and jobs and "get to be who they are".

Hopefully soon the Indian Govt. will repeal the law that keeps gay people in India from being themselves. Or maybe we need our own Stonewall incident?

The Truth

XKCD is always witty, but sometimes it outdoes itself :).



bonus points for reference to WarGames.

4000 Words

When we last left our protagonist, he was enjoying free Wi-Fi in the super-fast Thalys train to Eindhoven, Netherlands. Here are some snaps from afterwards...

First, Lunch and laptop, at 250 kmph (yes, that is Salmon)




Wall of food at Eindhoven station




Basanti da dhaba, at Amsterdam Airport




and now, I am back at INRIA, where apparently there are too many cats!



and now, back to work, and sending out psychological support for the people of Iran.

-A

The best part of my train ride to Netherlands

That and the wonderful food they are serving me in this super-fast Thalys train. :)

On the Iranian Elections

We have been talking about the Iranian elections for some weeks now, since one of our interns, Aamir, is from there. As most of the non-resident Iranians, he is not a supporter of President Ahmedinejad, and is pretty disappointed with the results that have been announced.

Given I am super swamped (doing to Eindhoven, Netherlands for a meeting tomorrow), I will leave you all with these two amazing video clips, in which Fareed Z covers Iran. Good stuff. [ref: HuffPo]

First, a report.



Then, a panel discussion.



My wishes are with the people of Iran. I hope their spirit prevails, but no one can say what will happen...
-A

Feeling the Magic

After much deliberation, and even more going-to-store-and-not-finding-it, I finally got my HTC Magic, the latest phone powered by the Google Android operating system, which allows me to easily deploy my own code to the phone, in addition to being snazzy :-).

Here are some pics, taken and uploaded from the phone (you may want to bookmark the album for getting updates when I upload more snaps)



and here is a video, again taken from the phone, and effortlessly uploaded to youtube.



All said and done, the best part for me are two apps: the metal detector, and the SSH client :). (I have installed a chess app, will post my comments once I use it)

more updates as I explore more features :)

cheers,
-A

Rebirth and Near-Future Plans

Yesterday was my rebirthday, (Those who do not know of my 7 year old car crash story, check this post out.) but I wasn't able to post due to the recent work-trip to Munich [preceded by work-trip to Pisa, and to be succeeded by work-trip to Eindhoven, Netherlands :-) ]. Happy rebirthday Ashish, Akshay, and Rahul!

Still pretty tied up with stuff, but wanted to let you all know that due to some recent developments, it is pretty certain that I will be at my current location (Paris, France) for three more years [till summer 2012].

at least.

-A
P.S. Happy birthday, Karthik!

Hanuman Laughs

No no, this is not like "Buddha Smiles" - India didn't just do another nuclear test (and neither did Kishkindha).

This is about some new research that claims that some apes (gorillas, chimps, bonobos), indeed laugh when tickled.

Go to the article, and click the "Listen Now" link at the top. You won't regret it.

I wonder if they would also laugh if they read the daily tamasha, which has become a regular source of chuckles for me :-).

Wave'd

For those of you who are still unaware of Google Wave, here is the question they aim to answer:

"In the current world which is aware of IM, blogs, and microblogs, what if one was to re-invent email from scratch, using the experience gained from exposure to these communication paradigms"

The answer, created by the same guys who created google maps and wowed us, is below. I strongly recommend watching the whole video, it gets more amazing as it progresses.

Love: Math and Bio

N had this link to a very interesting NYTimes opinion piece on the Math behind love as her google status today. Some snippets

The premise:

suppose Romeo is in love with Juliet, but in our version of the story, Juliet is a fickle lover. The more Romeo loves her, the more she wants to run away and hide. But when he takes the hint and backs off, she begins to find him strangely attractive. He, on the other hand, tends to echo her: he warms up when she loves him and cools down when she hates him.

and then he goes to model them... using differential equations, no less

Add to those possibilities the two ways Romeo could react to Juliet’s affections — either increasing or decreasing his own — and you see that there are four personality types, each corresponding to a different romantic style.

...

Although these examples are whimsical, the equations that arise in them are of the far-reaching kind known as differential equations. They represent the most powerful tool humanity has ever created for making sense of the material world. Sir Isaac Newton used them to solve the ancient mystery of planetary motion. In so doing, he unified the heavens and the earth, showing that the same laws of motion applied to both.

And in the end, he shares with us what happened when he applied math to his own love-situation back in the day, and why math stopped working beyond a point, but only due to a clearly mathematical reason.

Seriously, go read it.

Moving on, another discussion today (with M) made me do a little googling, and brought me to this article about the biological aspects of love. (Sorry but their claims do not have citations).

First, the premise:

We call it love. It feels like love. But the most exhilarating of all human emotions is probably nature’s beautiful way of keeping the human species alive and reproducing.

With an irresistible cocktail of chemicals, our brain entices us to fall in love. We believe we’re choosing a partner. But we may merely be the happy victims of nature’s lovely plan.

Then, the interesting bit about how the body behaves, in reaction to hormones, during the phases of "love" - lust, attraction, and attachment. Among others, this gem:

Does love change the way you think?
A landmark experiment in Pisa, Italy showed that early love (the attraction phase) really changes the way you think.

Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who'd been madly in love for less than six months. She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover, were related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients.

And finally, they talk about a fool-proof three step procedure titled "how to fall in love". But for that, you should read the article :).

So, what do _you_ think ? Feel free to comment anonymously if you so desire :-).
-A
P.S. Another way to increase your dopamine level - sports! And I sure _love_ the fact that I have resumed playing tennis regularly :).

Some Ghazals

Will be posting about my trip to the center court on the opening day of the french open in a bit, but for now, here are some ghazals I am listening to.



My favorite, if one can choose among these gems, is ranjish hi sahi. The lyrics in the devnagri script are here, and in Roman script (with full translation) is here. A direct link to its video is here.

One of my fav. lines here

किस किस को बताएँगे जुदाई का सबब हम
kis kis ko bataayengay judaai kaa sabab ham
Who else must I explain the reason of separation

तू मुझ से ख़फ़ा है तो ज़माने के लिए आ ।
tu mujh se khafaa hai to zamaanay kay liyay aa
Come, despite your displeasure, to continue the ceremony

Power without God

I have often exclaimed how any serious political candidate in the USA has to repeatedly announce his/her Christian beliefs, while in India it is not so, apart from those who explicitly want to benefit from pandering to the people of their own faith.

My friends often countered this with the fact that while Indian masses already know your religion from your surname, they also _assume_ that you are a "believer" in a higher power. That if it came out that a politician was agnostic or atheist, they would never win in India.

Well, the cat (some cats, at least) are out of the bag! The ToI reports that as many as six cabinet ministers took their oaths of office only on the constitution, no "help me God". From the article:

Six cabinet ministers of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's new team are 'non-believers'. These ministers "solemnly affirmed" that they would bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution while taking oath today.

The Prime Minister and 13 of his ministers took the oath in the name of God.

This who didn’t, are A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Sushilkumar Shinde, M Veerappa Moily, S Jaipal Reddy and C P Joshi, a first-timer in the cabinet.

The other ministers who took oath in the name of God include Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Vayalar Ravi, S M Krishna, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kamal Nath, Meira Kumar, Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, Ambika Soni, B K Handique and Anand Sharma.

Given that our home minster is a non-believer, does that mean that God won't bless India?

In any case, this agnostic feels that it is a good sign for the country when a politician can openly acknowledge his lack of belief in a supernatural power, while still stressing their intention to do their duty in accordance with our governing document; one that didn't come to someone in a vision, or is not comprised of God's own words, but is a living, changing, evolving entity, much like our rich culture.

Amen to that!

One way for the Right

I wrote yesterday about the options in front of the BJP, and how "logically", it makes sense to go more to the right, although that would personally make me sad.

However, last night, as I was watching the Colbert Report, and Meghan McCain appeared on it. She is the daughter of Senator John McCain, and describes her as pro-sex, pro-life, and pro-gay-marriage republican.

'nuf said, watch the video.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Meghan McCain
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage

I don't agree with her PoVs, but she does infuse a fresh breath into the Republican party, and provides a voice to many people who want to be economically conservative and socially liberal.

Now, if LKA's frank, articulate, socially liberal beautiful daughter (not sure if Ms Pratibha Advani has appeared on TV yet) was to show up on TV... oh wait, the most famous women the BJP has got are these ladies.

So dear readers, what say? Who can become BJP's Meghan? Hai koi Meghana?

How Right to go?

After my initial post about the election results, here is some analysis.

Well, I guess better writing has been done by the likes of M.J.Akbar, who wrote in this wonderful piece:

The BJP might want to consider a fundamental fact about our country. India is not a secular nation because Indian Muslims want it to be secular. India is a secular nation because Indian Hindus want it to be secular.

A similar PoV comes from this article on offstumped, a right-of-center blog [ref: abi]:

4. Riots have consequences we can no longer be in denial on VHP’s conduct. There has to be accountability for the rot in Orissa.

...

10. Last but not the least, it would be in complete denial if it did not ask tough questions of how Acts of Adharma in the name of Hindutva have been condoned and the relevance of Hindutva as an ideology to guide on Socio-Economic issues.

Now, I agree that these elections have shown that going extreme right-wing is not the way, and indeed the BJP experts were trying very hard for people to forget that the only thing that their "nidar neta" (fearless leader) had done to show his fearlessness was to whip up religious frenzy and demolish a mosque. However, Varun G served as a big jolt to the people who had begun to lean towards the NDA. Then they said "jab wohi development, wohi corruption, humein riots ke bageir mile, toh koi yeh kyun lein, woh na lein?" (paraphrasing the nirma super ad).

And this brings me to the big question - where does the BJP go from here? Clearly the question they face is very similar to what the republicans in the USA faced after their defeat in 2008. Behind all the explanatory interviews on how this was NOT a big defeat, there was definitely some soul searching going on. The BJP is undoubtedly in a similar situation, and if you see the comments on offstumped, you will see that far-right and the center-right people airing their differences.

I sure hope that their move more to the center in social terms, and work on creating a distinguishing brand for themselves devoid of religious connotations.

However, the thing that bothers me is this:

Unlike the Republicans in USA, who are both economically "and" socially on the right w.r.t the democrats ("tax cuts for the rich" and "no abortions no matter what, because God said so"), the BJP is _only_ socially on the right. Of course, no party can be economically be on the right and win in India.

But that leads to a problem - the desi masses seem to currently be OK with the UPA's economically--center-left and socially-left agenda. The only way that the BJP _can_ differentiate itself (without going economically right) is by going _more_ socially right. Going towards the center will need them to depend on the UPA to fail so that people think of them as the other viable centrist national party, and I think this version of the UPA govt. is more politically shrewd and less bound by 'allies' than the last one.

So, what else _can_ the BJP do but move more to the social/religious right?

-A
P.S. this is not unlike the current US scenario, where being economically right is taboo, thanks to the crisis. As a results, the republicans have resorted to the only possible gambit - go extreme right on social aspects. Not saying it is working, but I can understand their reasons.

P.P.S. On Grover's demand, and to showcase the victory of "let's just do our work and forget about killing our fellows" over intolerance, here is the video of the day:



update post watching the song: Just to be clear, I LOVE the acknowledgment of national achievements and culture part in the lyrics, but disagree with the blatant "everything western is bad" allusion in the video. I especially support Saira Bano's right to bare her back and wear a wig :).

Verdict 2009: Same Same but Different

As many (all?) of you would have heard by now, the UPA coalition is set to make the next govt. in India, which means this man is the king again, and minus the pesky left parties or "fourth front".



The campy remix with Snoop Dogg is here.


My "analysis" tomorrow. Promise.

In the meantime, what do _you_ think of the results?

Desi Folk Remixed

Not much to write today, but thought I'd share what I am swaying to right now. I must say I get very happy when I hear (good) remixes of folk songs.

Below, you will find "genda phool" (Delhi 6) and "pardesi" (Dev D). If you got any recommendations, please post them in the comments, and I'd be happy to add them.



and if you are interested in Indian poll predictions [or in smiling :-)], I strongly recommend reading the Daily Tamasha's scoop that a newborn is predicting the results now!!

Comedian in Chief

Am super busy, but here it is - a set of wonderful jokes about Obama and his administration, by the guy himself




And here is the video of the official comedian of the evening, Wanda Sykes.

and of course, the best - Colbert roasting Bush!

I'd love our pols to do similar things, and no, am not talking about the comedy that happens when the parliament is _in_ session :)

The Tower and the Gelato

The Tower:


and the Gelato:


And for more, check out the entire album.

Am crazy busy with my presentation, so here are some quick facts.
1. Had gone to Pisa for a project meeting. (yup, work related :-) )
2. Missed my flight, rather, wasn't allowed on my flight since I had only taken my work-permit card to the airport. In my immense smartness, I thought that it will be enough of a photo ID. Needless to say, I was wrong :P.
3. Luckily, got the next day's flight. Half a day of meeting, and a wonderful dinner by the seaside missed :(.
4. Saw snowcapped mountains under the clouds while flying (perhaps the alps). And then I saw one mountain peak piercing through the layer of clouds! surreal! Sadly, the camera was in the overhead compartment.
5. _Walked_ from my aircraft into the terminal at Pisa airport. Very much like Patna :D
6. Total time spent in Pisa: under 24 hours.

The rest of the story is in the pictures, in 40,000 words ;-).

And for those who missed the link to the album, thanks to my blog' colors,
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2367166&id=3414757&l=144e57924e

Chamko! A sweet soap :-)

Not sure how many of you have seen Chashm-e-buddoor (wiki, imdb), but it is one of my favorite sweet middle-class romantic comedies.

So if you got some time, rather, _when_ you get some time, have a look.

M personal favorite scene is the Chamko soap one, which is around 45:00. :). Simply the best!

Sorry for removing the embedded version - it asks for a password. You need to register on the site to view videos.

In lieu of that, I give you two nice songs from the movie. However, nothing matches the chamko sabun scene :)





Here's wishing for more contemporary sweet middle class romantic comedies! (e.g., the first part of Oye Lucky)

Strong Emotions

For strong outrage:
Homes of Sikhs razed in Pak; India irked

[would like this to be read by the guy who was selling me the idea yesterday of how "moral policing" is needed for society - I am sure the Taliban feel that enforcing shariya is " moral"]

and

7 teachers, 2 students drown in Gujarat

WTF?!!? How do 9 people drown together! What were their buddies doing?
and FYI: I myself have been in a precarious situation back in a picnic during my college days, but it wasn't like 9 of us were in risk of drowing and noone saw it.

***

For strong wow!ness
My Valetine's day gift to you - an Onion!
[ref: J]

***

And for strong, satirical laugher, these:

A great tale of poetic justice (watch till the end):



and then, I am amazed at the probability knowledge of the science teacher in the clip :P



and in other news, I am off to Pisa on Sunday evening! Any travel tips?

Time for some Music

Have been super busy recently, hence no new posts.

With the world going crazy with swine flu and Indian elections, here is some music, a collection of mostly punjabi/bhangra songs that I like, to hopefully make it a bit lighter.

Enjoy.



P.S. Happy Birthday K!!

Married!

No no, not me, but someone (some - two?) very very close to me :-).



Just came back from a weekend in India, where the handsome Pranay and the lovely Tripti cemented their love and friendship of nearly 10 years into the bond of marriage. I am still speechless trying to express my emotions about this, having been witness to their beautiful relationship since literally the day he laid eyes on her :).

It was also a good time for a reunion of GAP, the three co-creators of Grover-Arya-Pathak productions, which created quite some theatre (and made quite some friends) back in BHU.

Here we are :)



and here we are, more complete, with Varun's wonderful wife R, who also played a wonderful hostess to me in Mumbai.



2 down. 1 to go :-).

There were, of course, more people from ITBHU whom I met after a long time, and we had tons of fun. We also had the first meeting of the co-founders of Never Forget, since Varun, Aman, Anupama, and I were in the same city. Pictures coming when I manage to upload them :).

and now, the first time since last Wednesday night, time for some more-than-3-hours-of-continuous sleep
-A
P.S. Guess who is in possession of two kilos of the finest fresh Indian Mangoes :-).

Sanjha Choolha: How YOU can better channel your volunteer energies

Sanjha Choolha : sān-jhā choo-lhā

n. A communal kitchen popular in the villages of Punjab

Dear readers,
If you know me, you know of my interest in non-profit/volunteer work. And one thing that I have always wanted/wished to bring in is some method to this madness. After all, here are all these people who are willing to contribute time and energies, with no fear of "losing their jobs" if they don't perform well! I mean, how can one guarantee that something will get done if one knows that the team members have other, more pressing, real-world priorities?

Of course, one can resign to fate and say "there is no such thing as selfless service. People only _say_ they want to do stuff, they don't really mean it!".

Or, if you are like me, you can hope.

Hope that the problem is not the lack of enthusiasm, but the lack of _time_. And indeed if one could provide a proper question to the answer "I am a surgeon by profession, and I have only 20 minutes to spend for this non-profit venture of yours. Can you utilize this offer of my time?", things would be much better.

And from this question, the idea for Sanjha Choolha was born (thanks to A for the brainstorming about the idea and the brand name). It is a project that is being worked on as the first part of our work for Never Forget, which of course is nothing without volunteer work. However, we feel that this system can serve as a good plug-in into ANY volunteer/non-profit website.

Please feel free to read on, and let me know what you think by posting comments. This idea is at its initial stage, and your feedback and questions will help us improve.

[Note: Yes, I _have_ looked at issue-tracking systems such as Bugzilla and Trac, but found them ill-suited for this more general form of collaborative work. Specifically, they do not allow easy searches based on "expected time" and "skills", which is very important IMO in non-profits. Also, we are looking for something that runs on the google appEngine, so that it is free and scalable.]

For more, I am re-posting this post from the NeverForget Blog.

Dear web-oriented members of the NeverForget Team.

As a results of discussions I have had with some of you over the past weeks, I now firmly believe that the website, which is the face of this initiative, is not very useful without data being there for the readers to see.

That said, the data won't be available until we are able to properly utilize the energies, times, and skills of our visitors and team-members.

Therefore, from from an "enabling" perspective, my first priority is to get a system running which will enable rapid collaboration to work on bite-sized tasks. The three responses we got to the help-us-translate-in-marathi request posted yesterday are a testament to the fact that such a system will be very useful.

To that end, I give to you, this new term:

Acton: act-on
n. Fundamental unit of action :)

The idea is to post actons on a system, and allow people to _easily_ search and volunteer for them. One constraint will be that each acton has an _upper limit_ on how much time it is expected to take. (e.g., 5 minutes for googling the status of Tamil as a classical language is great, while 1 month for collecting all the data on the UPAs promises is too large a grain, and needs to be broken down into a set of related actons).

The interesting part is, this problem is not unique to NeverForget, but is indeed faced by all voluntary organizations, where people want to contribute, but are not sure what the best use of their (limited) time is. Therefore, I have created a project on google code at http://code.google.com/p/sanjhachoolha , where we also have contributors not directly involved with Never Forget. I have also uploaded proposed screenshots of the application, which we have chosen to christen "sanjha choolha". Krishnakanth (LA) and Kunal (Bangalore) have already joined in to start this effort.

From the project website:

+++

Introduction

Sanjha Choolha : sān-jhā choo-lhā

n. A communal kitchen popular in the villages of Punjab

If you have worked in non-profits, you would have also felt that there are times when we cannot properly utilize the manpower available in enthusiastic volunteers. Sanjha Choolha aims to be a system to solve this fundamental problem.

+++

So dear web-application developers on this list, please visit the project site to know more about what the next steps are, and what skills are needed. If all goes well, we should be able to complete this piece of the puzzle in the next few weeks.

of course, comments and feedback are most welcome.

best wishes,
Animesh
Team Never Forget

An Evening in Paris

Paris is a very beautiful city, and last night, after a memorable evening, I chanced upon the following scene on the seine.



Thanks to lessons from A, I was able to use the manual mode on my Canon Powershot A720 IS to take the pictures.

Click on the image to see the full gallery. Let me know what you think.

ciao!
-A

Speechless

Thanks to PK for sending this.

All: I am not a huge fan of the modern Indian reality show, and dislike the faltu emotion they put in most of the times, but once in a while, a video comes along, which you just cannot say anything about.

Without further ado, I give you Kamlesh Patel from Baroda.



!respect!

Positive Developments

After my last post on fighting negativity, I think it is only fair that I share with you specific updates on those very things that were negative that day.

Firstly, Ms. Anjali Waghmare has been provided adequate security by the govt. and will proceed to represent Kasab in the Mumbai terror case. I, for one, will be closely following the proceedings of this case.

Secondly, the J&K Chief Minister, who has already shown that he is tech-savvy, has ordered a probe into the manhandling of the RTI activist Mr. Ganai. Another issue I will be following.

And in other positive news, the ITBHU Global Alumni Association has finally received notification that it is a bona-fide tax-exempt non-profit :).

And further, someone has been elected to the post of "Deputy Directory - Website" of the above organization :).

On the work front, my RFID readers are here, and I can get started on the experiments I wanted to do for some time now.

And finally, thanks to A again, here is another playlist of some nice songs.



ciao!

Fighting Negativity

Got some pretty negative news bits today.

First, the thugs in Mumbai are back to their usual anti-constitutional antics again, this time forcing Ms. Anjai Waghmare, the court appointed lawyer for Ajmal Kasab to recuse herself.

Then, Muzaffar sent me info that an RTI activist by beaten mercilessly by the Police in J&K, leading to a broken tooth, and fracture in his jaw. Details at this page (scroll down to "Police beat up RTI activist in Budgam")

And finally, the latest explosion in Guwahati.

Yeah.. pretty negative day I must say.

That said, there are some positive things too, which cheer me up - my tech-savvy mom put up "subscribe using email" and "subscribe using RSS" widgets on her blog, all by herself. And I am proud to be the first by-email subscriber :). You should too.

Also, thanks to A, I re-listened to some songs from Mohit Chauhan of the silk route fame, which led to my compiling a 90s indipop playlist on youtube. Here they are:



Peace!

Good Movie, and Mom's Words

First, go watch Duplicity, from the makers of Michael Clayton.
I should not say anything about the movie, as it will spoil the fun, but here is the official trailer, if you want visual enticement.

Seriously, go watch it!

Secondly, it gives me great pleasure that my lovely, witty, and wise mom has really taken to blogging. Check out her latest posted picture, her thoughts on life, and her hindi poem on love. Be sure to leave comments to know how you liked them :).

A+

This Saturday: Never Forget Meets in Mumbai and Pune

Dear friends,
This Saturday, March 28, Never Forget volunteers will meet in Mumbai and Pune.

Pune
3.00pm to 6.30pm
The Corinthian, NIBM
Details and Agenda
Facebook Event

Mumbai
5:30 p.m.
Juhu Beach, next to Birla Garden.
Details and Agenda
Facebook Event

If you are in these cities, make it a point to attend. And even if you are not, spread the word among your friends who are.

Seriously. D0 this.

P.S. Consider joining the NeverForget facebook group.

Bring on the Intolerance!

There are some days when I am not as positive as I usually am, and this seems to be one of them.

Why? Well, because our wonderful political parties are at it again, supporting candidates who have made it clear what they think of other communities.

Exhibit A: Congress to field Jagadish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, of the 1984 anti-sikh-riots fame.

Exhibit B: BJP fully supports the candidature of Varun Gandhi, of the "its so funny that muslims with beards look like the terrorist bin laden" fame (quote paraphrased).

And of course, both of these parties are using the other's issue to justify their own, and will likely not change their stance. Shame on you, Dr. Singh, and Shame on _you_, Mr. Adwani (actually, not sure if it will have any effect, after what you did in 1992).

And _that_ is what I am pissed about today.

Actually, No. What I am really pissed off about is that the parties KNOW that these intolerant candidates stand a pretty good chance of winning, thanks to the "issues" our junta votes on.

So, what's the way out? Maybe an electorate that votes on the basis of performance rather than emotion. And that brings us to the upcoming meetings of Never Forget, in Mumbai (alt link) and Pune, both on March 28.

On Steroids and Podcasts

Some updates on the eye-issue discussed earlier:
1. Blood sample was taken yesterday. Yes sir, yes sir, 2 vials full.
2. This morning, met the doctor. He said blood test confirms this is toxoplasmosis, and that it is a recent infection (a lot of antibodies, not enough memory cells in blood). He again said that salads can also cause this.
3. To reduce the inflammation, he gave me some steroids.
4. To reduce the side-effects of the steroids, he gave me Calcium, Vitamin D, and Potassium tablets.
5. Since I am taking said steroid, I cannot take salt, for fear of water retention in my arms!

To know which steroid I am taking, and for a complete list of its side-effects, see this wikipedia page on Prednisone.

On a lighter note, the 2nd K&K podcast of 2009 with me in it is now online.
Click here to listen to our conversation, where

Animesh continues to tell us about the highlights of his adventures in India in episode 222, and makes some interesting reflections about the way things have changed since he last visited. In true k&k style, we derail on everything from arranged marriages to indian-chinese food to old school teachers to infomercials!

ciao!
-A

I spy with my Left Eye

This.
In my right eye!

/on antibiotics
/is pretty cool that this parasite can make infected mice seek out cats to be eaten!

Notes from India: Podcast style

This Saturday evening, I had the honor of being the guest at the Katia and KylieMac podcast, and we discussed my recent trip to India.

'nuf said. Go to their post to listen to the streaming audio and download the MP3.

Thanks a lot K&K!!

P.S. Happy 50th birthday, Lijjat!

Hippo: The River Horse

It has always intrigued me how the name of the Hippo in Hindi/Urdu is the same as Greek

Engligh: Hippopotamus = Hippos (horse) + Potamos (river)
In Hindi/Urdu: Dariyai Ghoda = Dariya (river) + Ghoda (horse)

and I have always been interested in these animals, but the documentary below (ref: NinjaVideo) enlightened me about some more interesting facts, among others:
1. Hippos kill more humans than any other mammal in Africa!
2. Their sweat is Pink, and apparently is antiseptic and sun-blocking
3. An adult hippo has no known predator, except, of course, man.

'nuf said, watch this!



ciao!
-A

Live on the Air!

Tonight, I have the honor of being invited by the K&K empire to be a guest in their twice-weekly podcast, Katia and Kyliemac VO.

After all the fun I had the last time, I sure am looking forward to this evening.

And speaking of _looking_, you can catch us LIVE doing our shenaniganary, from 8:30pm Paris Time (GMT+1, so 12:30pm LA Time, 1am India Time) tonight, 14th March, at their broadcast page.

Click here to continue to the live show!

ciao!
-A

Colored!

As I mentioned yesterday, we were going to celebrate Holi today in the group.

Here is how it went down..

From Holi@ARLES

The full slideshow is below.



And yes, there was more Holi at PK's place last night, and one of the picture from that is here (needs facebook account, I think.)

Update: More Paris holi albums here and here.

'tis Holi!!!

and with that existential chant [Holi hai = it's holi!], I have begun the day today for nearly all of the past 28 years.

Last year, we were at Santa Monica beach, and yes, I miss the warmth of LA this year :-|.

That said, this year was not bad either, as I just got back to my desk after a brief color-play with my group-mates S (Indian) and A (Russian!). We will be having a more proper celebration with colors and sweets tomorrow afternoon in the lab, and my (French) boss sounds excited :).

And now, the customary Holi video:


and then, a thoughtful one:


And finally, if you are interested, a bunch of songs for the day

Listen to Holi Khele Raghuveeraa songs on Dhingana.com

Created by: Shraddha Pandey

Listen to all Smartlists created by Shraddha Pandey

Holi hai!!!